Forensic
Expert – Senior Author

legal organization that is committed to
exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to
reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. To Date, the
Innocent Project has freed 301 wrongfully convicted people, including 18 who
spent time on death row. (Wikipedia, 2012)

Like DNA, fingerprints play a very important role in finding
if an individual committed a crime. The system needs to examine, evaluate, and
analyze just how important fingerprints are to ascertaining the truth. When
performing an investigation DNA and fingerprints parallel and corroborate law
enforcements findings.

Like the characteristics of a fingerprint there are many
aspects of a child sexual assault investigation (CSAI) which parallels it. In
fact, there are at least twelve characteristics which will be discussed today
which may provide you some insight into the world of science. Let us call them
“Daly’s Twelve Investigative Characteristics to Finding the Truth.”

Daly’s Twelve Investigative Characteristics are as follows:

1.Development – There are four stages of
development which parallel a fingerprint. Once identified the officer or crime
scene technician (CST) will need to develop the fingerprint by using dusting
powder, other methods, techniques, chemicals, and etc.

2.Registration – Once the fingerprint is
identified either it is a partial or an entire hand print, the fingerprint is
registered into the Automated Fingerprint Index System (AFIS). In sexual
assault cases if the perpetrator is found guilty, he will be required by law to
register as a sexual offender.

3.Crime Scene – Fingerprints are found at a crime
scene and are identified by an officer or CST. The investigation of what
happened at the crime scene and locating a fingerprint at the crime scene go
hand in hand.

4.Processing – In any CSAI the crime scene is
processed, the investigation goes through a development process, and etc.

5.Identification – Who the individual was who left
the fingerprint can be identified if his fingerprints are found in the National
AFIS. Once the individual is identified as being the perpetrator who committed
the sexual assault his fingerprints will be processed and put into AFIS.

6.Ridge Units – There are several types of ridges
in a fingerprint. In a CSAI there will be many ridge units in the investigation
in which the District Detective will have to deal with throughout the
investigation.

7.Classifying – The fingerprint is classified as
having certain characteristics. This is what makes the fingerprint useful in a
court of law because no one has the same fingerprints. In the CSAI the type of
sex crime which is classified as being a molestation, sexual assault, or a rape
will become important as the law enforcement officer will need to prove this
aspect of the case to prove that a crime was committed.

8.Medical – The fingerprint can be medically
removed from a dead body to identify who he is. In CSAI there is a medical
examination the child victim will need to submit to and be processed through.

9.Difference – Since there are no two fingerprint
alike there are also no two sexual assault investigations which will be the
same.

10.Impressions – Sometimes a fingerprint which was
left at the crime scene will have specific impressions if the surface of where
the fingerprints were left. In CSAI the credibility, reliability and
backgrounds of the child victim, witnesses, and perpetrator will be important
in what impression the District Detective will be able to uncover about each
one of them.

11.Hidden – There are fingerprints which are
defined as Latent Fingerprints which means the fingerprint is sometimes not
capable of being seen by the human eye. In CSAI the crimes are hidden behind a
closed door.

12.Detection – A trained CST can locate and detect
if a fingerprint is present. When the child begins to act differently or tells
her mother or father what the perpetrator did to her, the crime is detected,
and the development of the CSAI begins.

Today the need to first explain and understand what characteristics
of the CSAI will be the first characteristic which is “Development” which is
where the complaint is made that a child was sexual assaulted and law
enforcement is called and responds to where the complaint is being made and
begins the CSAI.

Development

In the development stage of the initial complaint of a child
sexual assault, there are many tasks the first responding officer and other
officers will be responsible to perform. There are several stages which can be
identified during the development phase:

Initial Stages of Development

1.First Responder investigates the initial allegations

2.First Responder requests assistance to establish a perimeter
inside and outside the residence/building/vehicle. Makes perimeter large enough
to protect potential evidence, including vehicles

3.First Responder determines two extremely important issues 1. The
safety and protection of the child 2. If there is probable cause to arrest the
alleged perpetrator

4.First Responder contacts his immediate supervisor and details the
case information to him.

5.First Responder receives authority to call the Sergeant from the
Special Assault Unit (SAU) to relay the incident/event information and to
request he send at least two detectives to the scene

6.Once the two detectives arrive at the crime scene, the First
Responder who had been in charge of the crime scene, witnesses, child victim
and perpetrator relinquishes his responsibilities to the District Detective

Second Stages of Development

1.Two detectives respond to crime scene. Upon arrival the First
Responder relinquishes the crime scene to the District Detective. The Assisting
Detective will provide assistance in all areas of the initial follow-up
investigation

2.District Detective contacts radio and requests a crime scene
technician(s) to respond to process the crime scene

3.The District Detective should create a detailed initial
investigative plan, sometimes referred to as a Case Action Plan (CAP),
discussing the CAP with the Assisting Detective.

a.This process should be created ‘mentally’ as the District
Detective is responding to the crime scene

4.Once constructed the District Detective will make assignments to
the Assisting Detective, Crime Scene Technicians (CST), and the First Responder
and other officers who can remain on the scene and assist

Third Stages of Development

1.District Detective will contact the complainant and perform the
child interview

2.Assisting Detective will assign officer's on the scene to assist
in gathering all of the witnesses for identification and interviews

3.CST will need to establish if the crime scene perimeter
established by First Responder and assisting Officer's is sufficient for the
protection of the identification and collection of evidence

4.CST’s will divide who will do what investigative aspects of
processing the crime scene

5.One of the first responding units stays with the perpetrator if
he is at the crime scene. He is either released or taken to jail for processing

Fourth Stages of Development

1.District Detective collects all witness statements and receives
information from the lead CST what the findings of processing the crime scene
were

2.District Detective collects all officer's statement in reference
to their investigative responsibility at the crime scene

3.District Detective makes contact at the jail with the
perpetrator or has the perpetrator come in to be interrogated by him

4.District Detective has any and all evidence taken to the State
Crime Laboratory for analyzation

5.District Detective will perform any investigative step necessary
to prove if the crime did or didn't occur

6.District Detective provides Deputy Prosecutor with either an
update on the investigation or provides him with the investigative file for the
consideration of filing criminal charges

There are eleven more characteristics of a CSAI to examine
and understand how they are parallel or similar to the many characteristic of
the fingerprint and the information about the two of them. As I explore these
parallels and similarities take the time to contemplate and critically think
about the methodology which is being utilized to perform investigative
functions which may prove that a crime was or wasn’t committed.

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Lawrence Daly New Novel

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In the small town of Kent, just south of Seattle in Washington State there is a child serial rapist and murderer who has targeted young girls. Over an eight-year period, Victor has abducted, raped and murdered 12 young girls. Detectives Simon Stocker and Gus Hall begin the chase of Victor. Just when he appears to have disappeared, he abducts 12 year-old Brittany Redman and the chase is on again.

With the assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies, a task force is established to chase Victor down. Victor’s method of operandi is to abduct his victims and then they are found 72 hours later, dead.

The time to save Brittany is running out, Detectives Stocker, and Hall pull out all the stops to save her life. Will they be in time?

About Lawrence W. Daly

Lawrence W. Daly is the author of multiple sex crime non-fiction books and booklets. Lawrence is one of the leading experts in the field of child sexual abuse investigations. Chasing Victor is his newest adventure. This debut novel, an exciting thriller will keep you on your toes, wondering who Victor might be, and whether Detectives Stocker and Hall will succeed in chasing Victor down. A must read!

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